However carefully the attorneys for the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) craft their proposal to you for their rule change, one clear thing emerges: This is not about the protection of or governance over, the securities industries in the United States. It is about money: Chicago Board of Trade members, with their full stock, and their trading and exercise rights have a vested financial interest in the future value of a demutualized Chicago Board Options Exchange.

When the Chicago Board of Trade Members formed the Options Exchange, they formed a membership organization with rights and privileges. No one thought about the intrinsic value of the institution as an enormously valuable money making, publicly traded, corporation. Yet that value was imbedded and existed then and clearly exists now.

That value is being realized by the membership of Exchanges worldwide. The CBOE is seeking to extinguish that value for CBOT qualifying members. Its goal and purpose is not about orderly markets, serving the investing public or anything else except denying the financial rewards that were unanticipated, but were there then, were reiterated as the world changed, and are there now.

With all due respect, this is not an issue that should be resolved by regulation change. It would even be unfortunate if the courts ultimately have to resolve this issue. It should be resolved by negotiation, mediation or arbitration.

It is simply wrong to seek to deprive a class of owners of value because that value was not initially considered or because greed makes it a worthwhile pursuit.